PATiffany wrote:G'day all, I hope to get a debate going for those of us who have Psoriatic Arthritis (aka Arthropathy).

At least 10% of chronic psoriasis sufferers develop the much more severe condition of psoriatic arthropathy (PA), which is a disabling form of inflammatory arthritis.

If you have psoriasis, and joint/ muscle pain, and your nails are affected, and your mobility is worsening, you need to get a preliminary diagnosis asap from a rheumatologist.

The only way to get a confirmed diagnosis is an Isotope body scan. X-Rays and blood tests only confirm Osteo and Rheumatiod arthritis.

It took 20+ years for the medical establishment to confirm my suspicion that I have PA, so I think I am in a position to contribute to this Forum.

I can report that keeping the skin under control seems to reduce the severity of the pain and disability.

Anyone out there who wants to discuss, please get in touch.

Regards, Tiff

Hello Tiff,

Strangely enough I had a badly swollen knee late last year that didn't seem to be getting any better. I was given some anti-inflamatory medication that made no difference at all. As my knee was getting larger my doc decided to drain it. I don't think they could have used a larger horse needle if they tried. But anyway, it soon swelled up again. So off to a specialist when I hear the mention of Arthritic Psoriasis and my gaw dropped. After an anxious wait for my blood test results I received the all clear. But as my grand parents both had arthritis and my mother has arthrisis and I have psoriasis, the odds are not in my favour, but for the moment at least I seem clear

I have psoriasis, but my coworker has psoriatic arthritis, and his skin condition seems more severe than mine. I looked at it and it's very inflamed, big patches on his arms, legs, chest, back and goes down to his bottom too. He even said some on his groin area.

He said when his joints hurt, the skin condition won't be as bad, but once his skin condition worsen, his joint won't hurt much.. that sounds really bad like lose lose situation.

So far he's just using ointments that the doctor prescribed for him for his psoriasis, I noticed the flaking skin went away a bit but his skin is still very inflamed.

If anyone has similar problems and/or know how to treat it somehow please give some info so I can tell him how to treat it.

PATiffany wrote:G'day all, I hope to get a debate going for those of us who have Psoriatic Arthritis (aka Arthropathy).

At least 10% of chronic psoriasis sufferers develop the much more severe condition of psoriatic arthropathy (PA), which is a disabling form of inflammatory arthritis.

If you have psoriasis, and joint/ muscle pain, and your nails are affected, and your mobility is worsening, you need to get a preliminary diagnosis asap from a rheumatologist.

The only way to get a confirmed diagnosis is an Isotope body scan. X-Rays and blood tests only confirm Osteo and Rheumatiod arthritis.

It took 20+ years for the medical establishment to confirm my suspicion that I have PA, so I think I am in a position to contribute to this Forum.

I can report that keeping the skin under control seems to reduce the severity of the pain and disability.

Anyone out there who wants to discuss, please get in touch.

Regards, Tiff

Hello there Tiff,

man, I feel for you! Is this the form of the disease that is only treatable by radio therapy or is it keimo therapy? I met a person in a wheel chair from this condition I think. He said he has a form of psoriasis that I was not familiar with. Does psoriasis develop into this, or is it another conidtion altogether? Can you get this disease, or do you get psorasis first, I don't really understand.

Thanks to all repondents. To try to answer your various questions is hard for me as a patient, not a doctor.

What I know from my own experience and that of my fellow PA sufferers is:

Yes it can render you severely disabled and wheelchair-bound, I was in such a state until last year, before I went to the Dead Sea International Psoriasis Treatment Clinic. My skin is still clear, and my pain and mobility are much improved. Give it a try. My contact is Amalia, who runs the project which is controlled by the Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem. Amalia's email is hvc2@bezeqint.net. Also my UK contact is karen kemichaels@hotmail.com (VIP Health Holidays Ltd). They are very helpful and can devise a package to your requirements.

No it can't be detected by blood tests or X-rays, you need a Radio-Isotope body scan to confirm the Rheumatologists diagnosis.

Good news! After 3 x 2-week Dead Sea treatments in the last 12 months, I have today been declared fit to return to work next week. It has been a struggle and a challenge, but at least I have confounded those who said in 2000 that I would never be able to work again. Basically, if you can stand the heat, you will benefit. Give it a try if all else has failed.

I am so glad someone posted something about this! I was just doing some research on psoriasis and read about psoriatic arthritis for the first time. It kind of makes me feel like a hypochondriac, but I think I have it. About 6 months before my skin REALLY started to flare up, I noticed my left knee was hurting really badly when I moved, and even when I was sedentary. I thought maybe it was because I weigh too much, but then I thought "wouldn't that affect both of my knees?" After reading about the arthritis online, I was dismayed to find out it could be because of my psoriasis. The main reason I think it may be from psoriasis is the nail thing. My nails have begun to get little indentations in them, and on the thumb nail, the bottom of the nail looks like it's kind of peeling or at the very least unhealthy.
I have a few questions about that for people who may be having/or have had a similar experience.

1. For those who suffer from psoriatic arthritis, what do your nails look like if you have that symptom as well? From my description of my nails, does that sound like what it is?
2. Is this a question for the dermatologist or for a different type of doc?
3. For those of you who suffer from this, does it seem to affect one side of the body more than the other?

I've seen pictures of hands where the nails or nail beds were affected but I don't think it was PA. I was diagnosed with PA about a year ago but it only affects the skin on the insides of my fingers and more recently the palms of my hands. My nails on all 10 fingers is smooth across the nail but has some ridging length-wise that I always thought might be a dietary defiency.

The peeling pattern I see on my fingers is in about a 2 week cycle of normal, to thickening, hardening, cracking and then coming loose and peeling. Then it peels several thin layers before it heals over and I get 2-3 days where I can go without bandages before it starts all over again. Depending upon where I am in the cycle, it either feels normal, has NO feeling when thickened or is hypersensitive during the peeling phases.

PATiffany wrote:G'day all, I hope to get a debate going for those of us who have Psoriatic Arthritis (aka Arthropathy).

At least 10% of chronic psoriasis sufferers develop the much more severe condition of psoriatic arthropathy (PA), which is a disabling form of inflammatory arthritis.

If you have psoriasis, and joint/ muscle pain, and your nails are affected, and your mobility is worsening, you need to get a preliminary diagnosis asap from a rheumatologist.

The only way to get a confirmed diagnosis is an Isotope body scan. X-Rays and blood tests only confirm Osteo and Rheumatiod arthritis.

It took 20+ years for the medical establishment to confirm my suspicion that I have PA, so I think I am in a position to contribute to this Forum.

I can report that keeping the skin under control seems to reduce the severity of the pain and disability.

Anyone out there who wants to discuss, please get in touch.

Regards, Tiff

hello Tiff - I am a bit confused here. Is Arthropathy just having psoriasis and arthritis as the same time, or is there a link in having the 2 conditions at once being a condition of its own? at one stage my doc thought I had arthritis also, but it turned out to be caused by bad foot wear so I have aches in my knees that went away with proper shoes.

My uncle has diabetes for a number of years. His diabetes was under control but has been high since 18 months. He does have foot pain. Is there anything that might help him? I heard that light therapy or anodyne therapy can come to his aid.

Hi Anne, A couple of studies have been undertaken inspecting the impact of phototherapy on the treatment of diabetes. they have not yet proven an impact but so far there is a correlation at least for children that would seem to indicate that children with diabetes should possibly not use phototherapy.

As always check with your medical practitioner before starting any new treatment, also let then know what else you may be doing or taking to inform them to better help you.